Although rational, intellectual thought does play a role in behavior, it is important to understand that much of rational decision making does not occur without emotional input.
- In fact, there is a very tight connection between the rational and emotional areas of the brain
- Our behavior is greatly influenced by your emotions.
None of us is exclusively a creature of rational thought.
- Our emotions have a lot to do with our actions
- The great news is we are capable of altering both cognitive and emotional input
- We can even use the connections between the intellectual and emotional to our advantage by learning to enhance positive emotions while diminishing the negative ones.
Re-source: Re-framing
By learning how to use both your emotional brain to influence your rational brain and how to use your rational brain to influence your emotional brain; you can have a big impact on changing your behavior.
- One way of doing this is by re-framing your emotions through conscious thought
- For example, when you are stressed, your sympathetic nervous system increases your heart rate and blood pressure and stress chemicals are released.
- Your brain can interpret these changes in two completely different ways – you can feel immense dread or in another scenario you are on a roller coaster having the time of your life.
Your cerebral cortex frames all incoming information within a certain context
- A lady who is scared of flying during turbulence. She re-frame this by picturing herself in a James Bond car in a movie, or on a roller coaster to make it more positive.
You can play down negative emotions and build up positive emotions
Simply believing in your ability to perform a task is often as important as having the actual skill for doing it.
craving and resource from ” The Healthiest You” – Take charge of your brain, to take charge of your life – by Kelly Trevor MD and Betty Keller
